Abstract
The progressive decentering of Christianity from its centuries-old heartlands in the northern hemisphere has generated the publication in recent years of a spate of introductions to what is now known as “world Christianity,” or, in the United States, perhaps more frequently as “global Christianity.” Very few of these recent treatments, however, come from the pen of Christian scholars who are themselves from the Global South. What makes this volume so welcome is that its author is a Mizo Presbyterian, a representative of one of the most heavily Christianized regions on the planet, namely the northeastern states of India. Although he now teaches Christian Mission at Asbury Theological Seminary, he has taught previously at the United Theological College of Bangalore. He also has firsthand experience of Christianity in both the Philippines and Nigeria. Pachuau thus writes with the perspectives and priorities of an Asian evangelical Christian, though with the added benefit of substantial experience of theological education in the United States.
Perhaps the most obvious consequence of the background of the author is his emphasis that much of popular Christianity in the non-Western world is indifferent or unsympathetic to the values of the European Enlightenment. The Pentecostal or charismatic Christianities that are now so prevalent in almost every part of the non-European world are, he argues, essentially anti-Enlightenment in their presuppositions. Pachuau is surely correct here. One of his resulting claims that may surprise some readers is that at the popular level, Asian and African Christians take a more positive view of Western colonialism and Western missionary contributions than do Asian and African theologians or historians trained in elite institutions of higher education that have been shaped by Western liberal post-Enlightenment approaches to knowledge and power. Again, this is an accurate, if rarely articulated, perception.
Like most other treatments of contemporary world Christianity, Pachuau gives most space to Christian expressions of the Pentecostal kind. Unlike some commentators, however, he rightly emphasizes that many of these manifestations of Spirit-focused Christianity are to be found within the historic churches. In Latin America, the Philippines, and much of Africa, for example, one is as likely to find Christians of Pentecostal style in the Catholic Church as in one of the newer churches that may include the word “Pentecostal” in their title.
Pachuau provides brief summaries of the contemporary Christian scene in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern, Southeast, and South Asia, and the Pacific Islands. The omission of Europe and North America is justifiable, given his stated aim (18) to focus on “the newer Christians of the South and the East.” Other gaps in his coverage are less easy to defend. As one so often finds, the Caribbean is neglected. More substantially, so is West Asia (“the Middle East”), which merits only one brief paragraph (64), with the unfortunate result that both Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox traditions receive barely a mention throughout the volume. The author’s decision to focus on those parts of Asia where Christianity is experiencing momentum and growth (65) is understandable from a missiological perspective, but it will leave the uninstructed reader with a distorted understanding of the reality of Christianity in Asia.
The author’s familiarity with modern scholarship is generally good, though there are some surprising omissions in the bibliographical underpinning of the narrative. Hence, the account of Gandhi’s opposition to Christian conversion would have been strengthened by reference to Susan Billington Harper’s marvelous biography of V. S. Azariah, and the ensuing discussion of anti-conversion legislation in India makes no mention of Sebastian Kim’s authoritative study of this subject. In the more missiological chapters that explore with considerable insight issues of contextual theology, the lack of reference to John Flett’s work on the missio Dei is perplexing. Conversely, academic readers will not be accustomed to find the evangelical prayer handbook Operation World cited as a scholarly authority on statistics on national Christian affiliation.
Not the least of the virtues of this book is that it is beautifully written, in a style that will make it accessible to students and church leaders, as well as to academic specialists. One hopes that it will be read far beyond the American seminary market at which it appears to be primarily targeted. Though Pachuau can legitimately be criticized for the dominant position that American missiologists occupy in his theoretical discussion, this is a very good book. As a textbook introducing students to the variegated texture of world Christianity today, it is undoubtedly one of the best available.